Kabaka Connects With Ghanaian AfroBeats Ambassador On A Damian Marley Production

Today MASS APPEAL premieres the official lyric video for “Borders,” a collaboration between Jamaica’s most accurate lyricist Kabaka Pyramid and StoneBwoy, the Ghanian artist whose style of AfroBeats shows a strong dancehall influence. Amidst ongoing battles over the expiration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the implementation of border walls, this song could not be more on time. “We are one human family and we haffi raise the awareness,” says Kabaka of the project. “When we pree the whole refugee situation and the debasement of people around the planet, especially Africa, the Middle East and thing.” The track was produced by Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, who recently won a Grammy for his latest album Stony Hill, and who is executive producing Kabaka’s forthcoming album Kontraband. Peep the visuals, and then check our full interview with Kabaka. Video After The Jump…

“It’s a joy to see what Rastafari has done, said Dre Island shortly after stepping off the main deck stage of the Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise. Having joined Popcaan to perform their hit duet “We Pray,” Dre Island was in a reverent mood when he spoke with Reshma B backstage. “For me it’s not even having faith in God it’s knowing that Jah is real,” the singer and producer explained. “Pocaan is my bredda, as he would say, family with a capital F. So it’s only fitting that we should do a song together.” When others questioned his choice of the Unruly Boss for the collab, Dre Island dismissed their doubts. “Unity is strength. Divided we fall. And we’re not going to fall we’re going to stay up forever.” Video After The Jump…Read more »

It’s been a few years now since this whole reggae revival thing jumped off (shout out to Dutty Bookman for coining the term!) and the excitement continues to build. Last March we saw the first collaboration between Chronixx and Jah9. Ever since the “Hardcore” Remix dropped (as featured on VP Records’ Reggae Gold 2K17 album) we’ve been looking forward to a visual interpretation of the tune and today BOOMSHOTS proudly premieres the official music video. Shot on location is São Paulo, Brazil by director Premier King, the video features Jah9 in various parts of the city with an all-female crew including members of the Feminine Hi Fi. posse. Additional footage was shot in California. Chronixx, who is currently nominated for a Grammy for Best Reggae album, joins Jah9 in the primary scene atop a city rooftop. “It was a long awaited pleasure for me to make my first visit to South America and Brazil,” says Jah9. “This has been calling to me for some time now and I was honored to connect with so many beautiful spirits and have the opportunity to work with some of the best local talent.” On meeting the director, Jah9 states, “we were fans of his work before we met him so when Premier King reached out about collaborating in Brazil it was just a matter of what song to choose. We are very happy with product of this collaboration and with all the seeds we were able to plant in Brazil.” Video After The Jump…Read more »

The Green is a well-respected Hawaiian Reggae band who merge rock, pop and R&B sounds with Jamaican roots and Hawaiian culture. They have won three Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards in their home state of Hawaii. Today MASS APPEAL premiered the visuals for “All I Need,” off the band’s latest album ‘Marching Orders.’

“Love is all we need This song is about me recognizing my blessings and was written for my wife and daughter,“ says lead singer Caleb Keolanui. The concept for the clip was developed by Director Keli’i Grace and Producer Jesse Yonover. “For the visuals, we wanted to create something very real that would transcend the meaning of the song to the deepest level possible. So it’s not just about love between two people, but love for your craft, love for your culture, and love for your home. We were really inspired by the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Mālama Honua World Wide Voyage. For those unfamiliar, this was the recent four-year long sail across the world by the traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe, Hōkūle’a, navigated only using the ancient Polynesian art of Wayfinding (celestial navigation). We saw so many parallels between the ocean voyages of Hawaiian Wayfinders and the musical voyage of the band so we thought the music video would be a unique opportunity to try to connect these storylines in a creative way,” says Jesse Yonover. “The vision was to produce a film piece that tied these two worlds together and illuminated how not only love but also culture passes through time. It was also important that we shed light on the other side of love, which are often the difficult sacrifices made by the families and loved ones of those left behind in the pursuit of these journeys.” Video After The Jump…Read more »

Mavado’s track on JA Productions’ Lighthouse riddim shows a side of the Gully Gad that he doesn’t usually choose to reveal. “Mi never left you in the board house on the Gully, me take you out,” he sings to his mother, recalling the humble beginnings he overcame when he became a Starbwoy. But the song’s official music video—which BOOMSHOTS proudly premieres today—reveals another level to the song. “It was just the right thing to do, filming in Africa for a song called ‘Mama,'” says Mavado, “since Mama Africa is mother to us all.” During a recent tour of the motherland, Mavado’s team captured these powerful visuals. “For me the riddim is close to my heart because it is dedicated to my son,” says producer Justus of JA Productions. “The video is very special as well as it was my first trip to mama Africa and we shot it on my 30th birthday, which also happened to fall on Mother’s Day.” Plenty of reggae artists makes songs bigging up their mother, but this song and video take the concept to another level. “We don’t care who no like me,” he sings. “Them is not God almighty.” Video After The Jump…Read more »

It is WellKlear how far Fari DiFuture’s eyes see clearly. A world where tourism and “Big Pharma” Trump livity and the “little farmer” forwards a future filled with endless drama. The second-generation musician born Kemani Powell is using his artistic voice to write a history that will see this coming adversity transformed. The momentum of that great oak grows within the acorn of his “Farmer Man” song. More than a mere lip professor with livid lyrics, he lives it, as agriculture is an aspect of his art of life, not just an aspect of his artistic artifacts. With the recent release of the “Farmer Man” video, Fari DiFuture is positioned to propagate his pro-preservation mission in a Yaadcore, Cooreville Gardens fashion. Since its debut, the clip has garnered its gardener tens of thousands of views as watchers walk in farmers’ shoes. Video & Reasoning After The Jump…Read more »

Fans of I-Octane will never forget his tune that begins with the words “Hustle round a Coronation Market.” For the video that BOOMSHOTS proudly premieres today—a big conscious combination tune featuring Octane and Ginjah—the artists visited May Pen Market in Clarendon with director BlingBlang. What better way to tell a story of real people with ambition seeking an opportunity to overcome the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life? The “One Chance” riddim was produced by BigA of Irie FM fame. Check the visuals and take the chance to count your blessings. Video After The Jump…Read more »

The last time we heard from IamStylezMusic, he was dropping a dancehall remix of John Legend’s “Light Up The Night.” After that international look the native of Portmore Jamaica decided return to the foundation with a new album called, Back To My Roots. “I did this album because I strongly believe the best way to make people fall in love and appreciate me as an artist was by doing a solid relatable body of work,” says the artist. “As for my inspiration, most of it came from me just self-searching. Finding and expressing myself in this album was a very important ingredient for the storyline.” Today we get the video for “Hey Mama Africa,” a song that walks the line between dancehall and Afrobeats with strong radio potential. Turn it up. Video After The Jump…Read more »

During the early 1990s Mad Cobra was one of the hottest new stars on Kingston’s dancehall circuit. And then his 1992 hit single “Flex,” recorded for Shang Productions and distributed worldwide by Columbia Records, made him an international star. Suddenly the voice of the youth born Ewart Brown was heard round the world on mainstream radio, becoming part of global pop culture, and yet he never lost his hardcore appea thanks to lyrics like “Press trigger we nuh press people button.” It’s been a long time since the Snake touched the stage at Reggae Sumfest, so Mad Cobra returned to Montego Bay for the 25th anniversary edition, delivered a jolt of that hardcore 90s dancehall energy. After blazing the Catherine Hall stage Cobra took time out to kick it with the Reggae Girl About Town. They remarked on Sumfest’s renewed energy, and on the enduring power of his song “Flex.” Then Cobra explained why he used his time on stage to take a stand against domestic violence and child abuse. Real people, real talk, real things. Video After The Jump…Read more »

Just before his big Stony Hill release event at the 40/40 Club in NYC, Damian Marley sat down with Reshma B for an exclusive discussion of his new album and his recent collab with Jay-Z. He reflects on the certified classic status of his song “Welcome to Jamrock,” breaks down the science behind his “Hunting Season” freestyle, explains the cause that makes rude boys “Roar,” and discusses his plans to bring “Medication” to the world. You don’t want to miss this one. Video After The Jump…Read more »

It still seems strange to call Chronixx’s album Chronology a debut. From Start a Fyah to Dread & Terrible to Roots & Chalice, the Steam Ministah has put in much work over the years. But last Friday, the artist’s first official album was released to digital streaming services everywhere and topped the iTunes Reggae chart. A fitting place to celebrate the moment was at the Celebrate Brooklyn! festival in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park where a massive gathering took place last night, filling the outdoor venue to capacity with many more listening outside. Chronixx and the Zinc Fence Redemption band rose to the occasion, delivering a blazing set of hits, punctuated with speeches like this one: “Dancehall was the only platform for artists who chose to talk the truth. Because every other music was purely entertainment, and the music coming out of the ghettos in the 1960s started to become very rooted in spirituality. The modern world didn’t like it, the radio didn’t play it, so you had people in Jamaica who created a thing called the sound system—which is still the only good system on this planet. Every other system shall fail. And the only system… Cause in the beginning was the word, and a word is a sound. So the sound system is the first system God create. You see it? And every other system shall fall and leave the sound system.” After a performance to remember, Chronixx sat down backstage to reason with Reshma B. Video After The Jump…Read more »

You already know Konshens as the man who loves to see “Gal A Bubble.” He’s not even mad at a “Bad Gal” who might even “Bruk Off” supm. But with his latest release, Konshens shows another side of his character. On this sweet rub-a-dub selection, courtesy of 21st Hapilos Productions, the DJ delivers something different. Something “Beautiful.” As the artist himself puts it, this is “a song for every woman to be reminded beauty starts from the inside, not defined by the opinion of strangers or social media.” As the devoted daddy to a young son and daughter himself, Konshens knows the importance of positive reinforcement and self esteem. And so today BOOMSHOTS proudly premieres RD Studios’ official lyric video for “Beautiful.” Video After The Jump…Read more »